A Sound From the Past
by lickitysplit
Summary: PC fic. After another defeat from Miraz's army, morale is low for Caspian and the Narnians. Then, something happens that hasn't happened in a thousand years.


**A/N:** This is a little drabble about Susan's horn, and the effect it has on Narnians. It is a PC fic, about what might have happened if Caspian had been able to sound the horn at sunrise like he had planned.

**Warning: **Contains spoilers for Prince Caspian. If you haven't read the book yet, then I don't know what to tell you, other than maybe you should be getting on that.

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The morning was cold and gray, and Caspian's small army was especially gloomy. The day before had produced many losses on their side, with few on the side of the enemy. After the battle, the Giant Wimbleweather had upset the Mice, who in turn upset everyone else. The night had been filled with grumbling and quarreling among the Narnians. No one had slept much.

There was a small fire going in the early hours, and some of the Talking Animals were gathering around, waiting for breakfast (porridge, again, being stirred in a huge pot over the fire by a sleepy Mole). Miraz's army would surely be coming in an even stronger force today, and they were waiting for new orders from King Caspian. However, he had gone into secret council hours before with Trufflehunter, two Dwarfs, and the stranger, Doctor Cornelius. Two Dogs were nosing around near the fire, and one bumped into the Mole. "Watch it!" yelped the Mole, who had nearly turned over the breakfast.

"You were in my way," the Dog replied.

"You should put your nose to better use and sniff out King Caspian," said a Black Dwarf, who was sitting nearby with his companions. "He hasn't appeared this morning, and I dare say, he may not."

"What are you going on about?" said the other Dog.

"What I'm saying," said the Dwarf, getting up from his tree stump and standing on top of it, so that everyone could see him better, "is that no one has seen the young king since yesterday, or his half-breed teacher. No one even knows where they are. For all we know, he could be over at Miraz's camp right now, telling him where we are."

"Hear, hear!" called the other Black Dwarfs.

"Treason!" shouted one of the Foxes. "The king would do right to run you through for talk like that!"

The rest of the Dwarfs jumped up. "He's a human!" they shouted back. "Just like the rest of them!"

All of the Narnians began talking and shouting at each other at once. Some were calling for the Dwarfs to be driven out of the army, others were asking if someone ought to get Caspian, and the rest wondered aloud how they could ever hope to defeat Miraz. Finally, one of the Bears growled, bringing the noise to a halt. "That's enough out of you lot," said the Bear in a loud voice. "Caspian is the king, and he's doing his best by us. It's not his fault that Miraz has the stronger army. He'll figure out what to do."

"Things were fine until Caspian showed up looking for us," said the Black Dwarfs.

"How can you say that?" said a Raven in a shrill voice. "Miraz wants to stamp us all out! He's been the worst since the Telmarines first arrived. At least now we have a chance to fight back!" The others murmured their agreement.

One of the Red Dwarfs walked into the middle of the group. "Still," he said, "King Caspian is only a young human. What hope do we really have of defeating the Telmarines?"

"Wasn't the High King Peter himself still young when Aslan made him king?" the Mole said. "Wasn't King Edmund only a boy, and the Queens Susan and Lucy young girls? And they defeated the White Witch, a much fiercer and more dangerous enemy than Miraz!"

The Black Dwarf scoffed, "That's only _if_ the stories can be believed. But how do we know? How could a boy defeat a witch as powerful as her? And how could four children lead an army into battle? And if it _is_ all true, why would Aslan leave Narnia to be ruled by humans?"

"Enough, Dwarf," growled one of the Dogs. He bared his teeth, the hair on his back bristling. "You may say what you like about us, but do not speak so about Aslan."

"Their reign was the glory of Narnia!" cried the Mice. "Narnia is only right when it is ruled by a Son of Adam!"

The Dwarfs laughed. "A Son of Adam _is_ on the Narnian throne, Mouse," one sneered. "And see how well that has turned out." Looking around, the Black Dwarfs were pleased to see the doubt in many of the Narnians. No one spoke for a while, but they only whispered to each other, questioning the Dwarfs' words. By this time, the rest of the army had arisen, and word was spreading around camp that Caspian was missing, there was no plan for the day's battle, and that the Dwarfs were calling for new leadership. The sun had begun to peek around the clouds as it started to rise, but the worried Narnians had taken little notice.

Then, suddenly, a horn sounded. It was a deep, mellow sound, and it filled Aslan's How. Every member of the army stopped what they were doing and listened. They all felt as if magic had entered their camp, and a sense of wonder and hope filled each heart. The trees themselves seemed to even respond, and the leaves swayed, even though there was no wind. The Centaurs looked at one another, wondering if this was the sign they had been waiting for. The Animals chattered and twittered excitedly to one another. Several of the Mice started to run about, asking everyone if they had heard the beautiful sound. Even poor Wimbleweather, who had stayed away from the group all morning in shame, raised his head proudly, and felt as though the day had some promise. The Red Dwarfs began to get their battle gear ready, and the Satyrs began to dance. Only the Black Dwarfs trembled, and grimaced as they felt their stomachs drop.

Soon, the whispering among the camp turned louder, and everyone felt as if there was important work to be done. "Where did it come from?" the Animals asked each other.

"Could it truly be?" said a Centaur. "Could we have heard Queen Susan's own horn? It's as if the sound came out of the past."

"Queen Susan's horn!" the Mice squealed. "Aslan has sent us hope! Long live Aslan!" The Animals looked about, as if expecting to see him appear. "Perhaps Aslan has come to save us!" they said to one another.

"If that was Queen Susan's horn," said a Satyr, "maybe she is nearby. She was the greatest archer in all of Narnia. She can lead us in battle." "Hurrah for Queen Susan of the horn!" the other Satyrs said, and readied their own bows.

"Queen Susan did not lead troops into battle," said a Squirrel. "It was Queen Lucy who was the valiant one. She went to war with the army, even though she was the smallest of the monarchs." With that said, the Squirrels and Hedgehogs and Sparrows swelled with pride, and imagined defeating the enemy under Queen Lucy.

The Mice drew their swords, and Reepicheep (who was Head Mouse) said, "But it was King Edmund who ordered the army. He designed the battle plans." He began to swipe his sword about, dueling an invisible enemy. "With King Edmund with us, we can't lose to those Telmarines!" The other Mice gave a cheer.

"Who we truly need is King Peter," said a Badger to the Mole. "The High King was always victorious. He even defeated the Giants!" He noticed that Wimbleweather was listening, so he quickly said, "The Giants who were a threat to Narnia, that is. To the good Giants he was always kind."

The Mole nodded in agreement. "They were kind to all the Animals," he said. "If King Peter arrived, that dratted Miraz would turn and run! I heard that King Peter was the greatest swordsman in all of Narnia. Not even the White Witch was safe from his magic sword!"

"King Peter didn't have a magic sword," said a Horse. "Besides, it was King Edmund who broke the Witch's wand, and ended her magic over Narnia."

The Satyrs laughed and said, "It doesn't matter anyway—if Miraz even came close to us, he would be pierced by Queen Susan's arrows and fall dead before he even realized it!" The other Narnians roared with laughter. Filled with renewed excitement, they prepared themselves for battle, as if the Kings and Queens, or even Aslan himself, had truly appeared to lead them that day.

A little while later, Caspian, exhausted from the battle the day before and bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, slowly walked back to the camp. Trufflehunter walked with him. Both felt uneasy from the night's council, and Caspian tried to think of how they could possibly face Miraz's army again. It seemed that the army was almost on its last legs. He knew full well that the Narnians were tired and that morale was low. Caspian wished that he knew of some way to rally them together, and wondered if any help would come from the horn. He began, just a little, to doubt that he was doing the right thing by challenging Miraz, and thought for the first time that perhaps it would have been best if they had remained in hiding.

To his surprise, when he reached the camp, the Narnians were not only ready for battle, they were ecstatic to see him. He stood in astonishment as the Narnians clamored around him. "King Caspian has returned!" they cheered, and the Animals ran about, asking him about the plans for battle, and if he had heard the beautiful sound. All at once, the Satyrs asked if he could inspect the archers, the Mice ran to get his armor, the Centaurs talked about the weaknesses in Miraz's offense, and the Animals called for him to eat and rest and give orders all at the same time.

"Peace, all of you!" called out Trufflehunter. "The king can't possibly listen to everyone at once!"

Caspian looked at Trufflehunter. "What has happened?" he said.

"It seems, Your Highness," said the Badger, "that your army has rallied itself to your side." He smiled up at Caspian. "Perhaps sounding the horn did some good, regardless of whether help arrives."

"That was you?" a Dog, who had been listening to their exchange, asked Caspian. "We all heard it! Listen!" he called to the others. "It was King Caspian that blew the horn! Long live King Caspian! Long live the king!" They all cheered loudly, and shouted to each other, "I told you it was he that had the horn—no you didn't, I said that—look, he's as brave as King Peter—no, no, he's as smart as King Edmund, I've always said it—we're sure to win if we have Queen Susan's blessing—King Caspian will know what to do!"

"Silence!" bellowed one of the Centaurs. Everyone stopped talking at once and looked at him. "Let the king speak." They all turned to Caspian, and waited expectantly.

Caspian was at a loss for words. Looking at all the Narnians, for the first time in many days, he felt as though they might stand a chance against Miraz. He saw Trufflehunter give him an encouraging nod. "All right, then," Caspian said. "Here's what we should do."

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Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


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